


Falling Into You

by bicalamity



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - No Voldemort, Angst, Bisexual Hermione Granger, Bisexual Lavender Brown, Break Up, Coming Out, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, Hermione Granger is a Good Friend, Hogwarts Sixth Year, Pining, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-15 01:28:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29181030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bicalamity/pseuds/bicalamity
Summary: There are appropriate times to realize you have a thing for your best friend, of course there are.  But figuring it out by seeing her kissing someone?  Probably the worst one out there, especially when she has no idea you could ever feel that way.Basically Parvati pining after Lavender Brown, loosely based around Lavender and Ron's relationship in the sixth book/movie
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Pansy Parkinson, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Lavender Brown/Parvati Patil, Lavender Brown/Ron Weasley, Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley, Seamus Finnigan/Dean Thomas
Comments: 1
Kudos: 28





	1. Chapter 1

Friday nights meant a lot of things, it meant no classes the next day, relaxation, and yes. Sometimes parties, but Parvati was not in the mood after the potions class she’d had today. It wasn’t as if it went bad, not at all, it was just the fact that they were doing Amortentia, and instead of smelling some random guy she _had_ to smell her best friend. Figures, because why not just let her life be easy. But Lavender wasn’t letting it go without a fight, she was apparently determined that Parvati was going to come with to this party.

“You _have_ to come!” Lavender whined, sitting on the edge of Parvati’s bed. She sighed and pushed the hair out of her face, setting her textbook beside her. She knew she probably _should_ go to the party, even Hermione was going, but she just wasn’t in the mood. 

“I don’t have to do anything except take my NEWTs and graduate, Lav.” Parvati said, her voice coming out deadpan. Lavender pouted and leaned closer, taking both of Parvati’s hands in hers. She swallowed heavily, and hoped to whatever was up there that Lavender ignored how sweaty her hands were.

“Please! For me?” Lavender asked, and Parvati took a deep breath and sighed, knowing there was no point in trying to fight Lavender. She never won, she knew she was going to end up at that stupid party. So she swung herself out of bed and gestured down at her old sweatshirt and t-shirt, which clearly were _not_ party attire.

“I have nothing to wear.” She pointed out, and Lavender chewed on her lip for a moment as her eyes scanned Parvati’s body. This was the exact _opposite_ of what she needed, she did not need Lavender staring at her like she was staring _right_ through her clothes, or even her skin. That helped her situation not at all. After a moment, something must’ve dawned on Lavender because she disappeared to look for something around her own bed before coming back. 

“Here.” She said, holding out a dress that looked _entirely_ too short. Parvati swallowed against a dry throat and eyed Lavender uneasily. No way in hell she was wearing this around her classmates. 

“We don’t wear the same size, Lav.” Parvati pointed out, and Lavender patted her shoulder and gave her a knowing smile.

“Trust me.” Lavender said, and Parvati knew she couldn’t fight that. Lavender must’ve charmed it to fit anyone or something, because it fit like a glove, literally slid right on. She took a cursory look in the mirror and blinked in surprise. It didn’t look half bad, even if it was _way_ too short. Oh, her father would kill her if he knew she was even trying this on, she was pretty sure any dad would. 

“I don’t know about this.” Parvati said, and when she turned around she watched as Lavender gasped and slowly looked her up and down before covering her mouth. A sure sign she _really_ liked it. Well, there was no getting out of this now. 

“Oh it's perfect! You look _hot_ .” Lavender said, placing a hand on either of her arms to pull her closer. Parvati _really_ hoped she didn’t look as embarrassed as she felt, but she knew she probably did. It always played out in her body language. 

“Shut up.” She mumbled, and Lavender gave her a playful swat and chuckled, linking their arms together.

“It’s true! You’re gonna have boys crawling all over you.” Lavender said with a smirk and Parvati made a face. That did _not_ sound like a good time, if she was being honest.   
“

Tragic.” She sighed, because she didn’t really want _anyone_ crawling all over her… well… besides the one… but she was _ignoring that_ until further notice.   
“What's that supposed to mean?” Lavender asked, cocking her head a bit in confusion. Parvati felt her whole body go cold with fear for a moment as she considered what she could say to cover her ass. 

“Just that… if I’m going to this party, I’m going for my best friend, not some stupid boys.” Parvati said quickly, waiting with baited breath to see how Lavender responded to that. Luckily, Lavender just smiled and rested her head on Parvati’s shoulder for a moment. Thank. Merlin.

“That’s sweet, Vati.” Lavender said, and Parvati shrugged and nodded, giving her a smile that she was _certain_ probably came across as panicked, because it most definitely was. 

“I know.” She responded, and Lavender rolled her eyes and pulled her towards the stairs out of their dorm.

“Now come on, we’re already late.” Lavender said, but Parvati paused and held up one finger, needing to lay down one rule.

“Alright, but I reserve the right to leave if I get too bored.” Parvati said, giving her a serious look, and Lavender sighed and nodded, looking a little disappointed that Parvati would want to leave at all. But again, this was something _Lavender_ wanted to. Parvati was tired. 

“That’s fair. Hand.” Lavender said, and Parvati sighed, but slid from their linked arms into linking their hands, giving Lavender better leverage to lead the way. And a better grip so she couldn't just go back upstairs and wallow in mortified self pity.

“Okay…” She said, and they fell into a sort of silence, that is until they were nearly to the party.

“Do you think Ron will be here tonight?” Lavender asked, breaking their comfortable silence, and Parvati raised an eyebrow. Since when did Lavender give half a damn about Ron? They almost never spoke to each other.

“I don’t know. Probably? Why do you care?” Parvati asked, and she saw Lavender's cheeks pinken a bit as she shrugged, a little too fast. Like she was hiding something. If she was, she was rubbish at it, Parvati could deduce that this might be another fleeting crush. Lavender often fell prey to those.

“I don’t! I just wanted to speculate about who might be there!” She said, her words flooding out like she was embarrassed to be speaking them, which did make Parvati chuckle a bit.

“Why don’t we get down there and see.” Parvati sighed, and Lavender rolled her eyes. Gossiping was in her nature, but it was never in Parvati’s. She preferred a real conversation, although she sometimes just let Lavender talk at her, just to get it all out.

“Fine, fine.” Lavender said, and they walked through the door, and instantly Parvati wanted to walk out because one it was _hot_ in the common room, and two, people were practically packed in. 

“ _Merlin_ , it’s packed in here.” Parvati sighed, suddenly a little grateful that the dress was so short, it would make it harder for her to overheat, even if she did feel overdressed. Lavender scanned the crowd, and a smile grew on her face as she spotted their friends. 

“Oh! I see Dean and Seamus.” Lavender said, and raised her hand to wave, but Parvati caught her wrist and brought it back down, seeing Dean’s face duck into Seamus’s neck. It was clear they were having a moment right now.

“They look a little… busy. Lets not interrupted that.” Parvati said with a chuckle and watched as Lavender’s cheeks turned pink again and she quickly turned away from their friends. Parvati thought it had to be awkward, being friends with a boy you liked and his boyfriend, but Lavender was really good about it. Very supportive. And Parvati hoped she could find it in her to be just as supportive when she decided to tell her.

“Agreed.” Lavender mumbled, and for a moment neither of them spoke, but this wasn't comfortable like on the way down here, this was awkward because Lavender didn't know how to react to Dean and Seamus making out. Fair, normally Parvati would be a little grossed out too, but tonight she didn't have the energy to pretend like she wasn't super happy for her friends. Her energy was taken up by making sure she was acting normal enough to fly under Lav's radar.

“I’m gonna go get us some drinks.” Parvati said, breaking their silence and Lavender looked at her with some excitement as she nodded.

“Firewhiskey?” Lavender asked, giving her a large smile and Parvati, against her better judgement, knowing what Firewhiskey did to Lavender, nodded. She'd stop her from overdoing it tonight, and stop her from throwing up, it couldn't be all that hard.

“Mhm.” Parvati nodded, she'd known Lavender's favorite drink, even though it changed frequently. She memorized every one so that she could get her friend the thing she wanted in the moment, that was very important to her. Lavender clapped her hands together and grinned.

“Oh, I love you. A woman after my own heart.” Lavender said, before smacking a kiss on Parvati’s cheek. Something she’d done a million times before, that suddenly felt a billion times more charged. Parvati cleared her throat and quickly wiped her cheek, looking anywhere but directly _at_ Lavender. 

“Hah, yeah… something like that.” Parvati said, wincing at the way her voice went up on the end. She made quick work of weaving through the crowd to grab Lavender's drink, and was about to head back when she heard someone clear their throat. She hadn't expected it, normally she only talked to Dean, Seamus, or Lavender at house parties, everything else just felt stinted and awkward.

“Since when do you drink firewhiskey, Patil?” She heard someone asked and _of course_ it was Harry. He had no issue talking to anyone, it was actually a little unnerving just how calm he could be sometimes. Parvati turned around and shook her head. 

“It’s not for me, Potter. It’s for Lavender.” She said, and Harry gave her a concerned look as his eyes flitted over to the blonde who was leaning against the wall, talking animatedly to a seventh year girl.

“Is that wise? She almost always throws up after drinking that.” He whispered, as if Lavender was going to hear him. Parvati shrugged and cleared her throat.

“I’m making sure she doesn’t go too overboard, alright?” Parvati sighed, and Harry gave her a small smile and nodded, taking a moment to take a drink from his glass before continuing on.

“Good, as long as I don’t have to buy new shoes again.” Harry joked, and Parvati let out a small chuckle before shaking her head. The fact that she had thrown up on _Harry Potter’s_ shoes still mortified Lavender to no end. 

“She feels so bad about that.” Parvati said, and Harry shook his head at her.

“She doesn’t have to. I get it.” He assured her, and of course Parvati knew that. For weeks after it happened, Lavender refused to even acknowledge Harry's presence, she'd just walk the other way as quickly as she could until Parvati made her address it.

“Right, right. You here with Ginny?” Parvati asked, and Harry shook his head, pushing his glasses up a bit with his arm, his hands currently occupied with two drinks. Okay, so the other one must be for Ron or Hermione then.

“No, she and I broke up last week. We’re _way_ better off as friends, it turns out. Plus… she’s like, crazy into Luna Lovegood.” Harry said, and Parvati almost apologized, because that couldn’t be fun, before she looked up and saw his look of admiration, directed across the room at where Ginny had her head thrown back in laughter while talking to the other quidditch girls. Well, good to know he’s supportive. 

“Hm. Yeah, I could see that.” Parvati mumbled, and she meant it. Those two would make a handsome couple, if it ever actually happened.

“Are you here for anyone special? Or just mingling?” Harry asked, and Parvati quickly shook her head.

“Nope. I’m here under extreme protest because Lavender begged me.” Parvati explained, and Harry chuckled and nodded, downing the rest of whatever was in his cup.

“Fair, fair. Well, you should probably get that back to her.” He said, and Parvati knew that was probably also because he saw someone else he needed to talk to, but she didn't mind. She'd rather not be holding Lavender's drink for longer then needed, it could get warm.

“Right. See you around, Harry.” She said, before turning on her heel and slipping through the crowd, holding the drink out to Lavender, who grinned at her appreciatively before telling the seventh year that they could talk more later.  
  
“Oh! Thanks.” She said, taking a quick sip of it. 

“Mhm. Did you know Ginny and Harry broke up?” Parvati asked, and Lavender raised an eyebrow and nodded as she lowered her cup.

“Yeah, like… last week? I overheard Ginny talking about it during breakfast.” Lavender said, giving Parvati a questioning look. The other witch sighed and shook her head, because this was where gossip could come in handy. That was something at least a little important to know about.

“Merlin, I never know anything.” Parvati said, sounding a little annoyed as she did. Lavender merely shrugged and gave her a pointed look.

“You don’t gossip.” Lavender pointed out, and Parvati shrugged. She didn't see how that should affect knowing current events.

“I don’t see the point.” Parvati reminded her, and Lavender rolled her eyes and smiled over at her, like that was sweet or something. It wasn't it was just something she'd believed since she was young, there was no reason to gossip, at least not for _her_ to gossip, Lavender could do it if she wanted to, she wasn't going to stop her. 

“Of course you don’t, you’re too noble.” Lavender said with a chuckle, and Parvati raised her eyebrow.

“Is that not part of our house?” She asked, and Lavender paused before shrugging.

“I mean… kind of? Whatever.” 

“Alright…” Parvati said, and they stood there for a moment, until she heard Lavender gasp when the music changed to something a little more her style.

“I love this song…” Lavender said, and Parvati listened for a moment, not quite picking up who it was. Something by The Weird Sisters, she was sure.

“Yeah it's… it's pretty nice.” Parvati said, nodding her head along to the music, content to stay to the outside. That didn’t work too well when Lavender looped her hand around her wrist, all but yanking her further into the party. Great.

“Come on!” She said, and Parvati cleared her throat, not sure if she should let this happen or stop it. She decided to ask a few questions first, a trait she'd gotten from Padma that would probably make her sister far too proud of herself if she knew that she'd adopted it.

“What are you doing?” Parvati asked, and Lavender paused, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

“We’re going to dance.” She said, as though it should’ve been obvious. It _wasn’t_ because unless you were drunk, you weren’t dancing from what Pavati could see. 

“Lavender you know damn well that I can’t dance!” Parvati said, letting out a laugh as Lavender dragged her further into the party. This was going to end poorly, no matter how many of their housemates were drunk and dancing too.

“Just follow my lead! Trust me.” Lavender pleaded, and Parvati let out a defeated groan and nodded, holding out her arms for Lavender to grab, because she planned on putting in minimal effort right now.

“Fine.” She sighed, and Lavender made her sway a bit to the music, being overly encouraging as she did. Parvati knew she looked awkward, that was going to happen when she was forced into doing something like this.

“See, you’re a natural!” Lavender insisted, and Parvati rolled her eyes. She hated dancing, hadn't really done it since the Yule, hadn't even done much of it there.

“I feel like an idiot.” Parvati mumbled, and she’d taken to moving just slightly to the music as Lavender danced _entirely_ too close to her. 

“You’re _supposed_ to. Just let loose for a bit!” Lavender insisted, and Parvati let out a sigh and just closed her eyes, waiting for the song to be over, allowing herself to be moved around by Lavender, but not moving herself. Once it finally switched, she felt Lavender pulling her back to where they'd been rather quickly, almost causing Parvati to jog a bit. 

“Okay, _never_ doing that again.” Parvati said, a little out of breath as they got back to their spot on the wall. Lavender nodded and looked at her with such fondness in that moment that it was almost unnerving. 

“Alright. Thanks for doing it once, though.” Lavender said, giving her a tight hug that Parvati was quick to pull away from. She was already buzzing from the dance, there was no need for more attention right now.

“‘Course. I forgot to get myself a drink, so I’ll be back, alright?” Parvati asked, patting Lavender’s arm. The other witch nodded quickly, grinning at her. Good, she needed to put some space for a moment so she could breathe.

“Okay! I’m gonna mingle.” She said, and Parvati nodded. Of course Lavender was going to mingle, she’d wanted to mingle all night. Not Parvati, though. She’d rather just go back up to her dorm and go the hell to sleep, but she couldn’t yet.

“Got it.” She mumbled, making her way quickly over to the drinks and grabbing the nearest thing. Just drink it and hope it's not Firewhiskey, Parvati thought, but much to her dismay, that was exactly what it was. Wonderful. She was about to walk away with her botched drink when she felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned with a smile, thinking that maybe it was a friend, but her face fell when she saw some fifth years she hardly recognized leering down at her. Well, it wouldn’t be a party without unwanted advances, right?

“So… come here often?” One of them asked, trapping her in by blocking her path with his arm. Ugh. He smelled _terrible_ . Not like body odor, but like a generic teenage boy, which in a way was worse. 

“To my own common room? Yeah, pretty much daily.” Parvati said, and honestly she was less annoyed that they were hitting on her and more annoyed that they were _so_ damn unoriginal with it. ‘Come here often?’ What were they? 50? 

“Nice, nice. Us too. So… you single?” He asked, and Parvati snorted and shook her head. Unbelievable.

“Not to you.” Parvati said, making sure to keep her voice flat and bored as she scanned the crowd, trying to catch Dean or Seamus’s eyes to come save her, but unluckily for her, they were locked in a heated conversation. Fuck. ‘What was the point of having a tall guy friend if he can’t be emotionally available to save you from idiots?’ Parvati thought with a chuckle before sipping her drink again. But the boys didn’t give up.

“Ouch.” The main one said, chuckling as he leaned against the table. Parvati rolled her eyes and shot him a glare. There was no nice way out of this one.

“I’m not the one hitting on someone who is simply trying to grab a drink.” She reminded them, but that didn’t seem to deter them. Merlin, people had too much confidence these days.

“Whatever. Do you like quidditch?” One of them asked, Parvati wasn’t sure which one because she’d stopped paying attention.

“Not especially.” She muttered, hoping that would be enough to make them _go away_ . But of course it wasn’t, _of course_ not. 

“It’s probably just because you don’t understand it.” One of them said, sounding so condescending that it was taking everything in her power to not dump her drink over his head. It _would_ give her an excuse to get a new one… but no, it wasn’t worth it. 

“I understand it very well, actually.” Parvati sighed, because of course she did, Lavender was obsessed with quidditch boys, she’d gone to every game with her just so Lavender could moon over whatever boy she was into that month. So obviously, she’d gotten quite familiar with the game, as none of the quidditch guys really struck her fancy.

“Oh? Name the positions.” The boy said with a snort, and Parvati rolled her eyes. The last thing she needed was this energy from a _child_ today. Even if he was only a year younger, he was acting like a child and that was what mattered. 

“I’m not doing this.” She said in a flat tone, and the boy gave her a condescending smile, going to pat her shoulder before she swatted her hand away. Her lack of interest was for sure _not_ an invitation to touch her. 

“Probably because you can’t name them without someone talking in your ear. It’s okay, I can explain it. There’s the seeker-.” He started, and Parvati was about to ignore them and let her eyes glaze over, with surface answers of ‘wow’ and ‘that's crazy’, but she was saved from this fate when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Everything okay over here, Parvati?” And honestly, Parvati had never been happier to hear Harry’s voice. She gave the three boys a smirk and turned around to Harry, nodding slowly as she took a long sip of her drink.

“Hm? Yeah, these kids won’t leave me alone.” Parvati mumbled, and Harry nodded, sizing each kid up, each kid who was currently _gawking_ at them because Parvati had called them kids. Technically, they all were. 

“Kids! We’re only a year younger than you, bitch.” One of them snapped, and Parvati saw Harry’s fist clench for a moment before he shook it off, as if trying to appear like he wasn’t irritated by that. It didn’t bother Parvati, she’d been called a bitch by far worse then some arrogant fifth year.

“Okay, back off. Think it's time for the fifth year’s to get to bed.” Harry said, placing his body between Parvati and the boys, all of which scoffed and seemed to be making a big fuss, but eventually their complaints died off. Hard to fight with Harry, after all.

“Fuck you, Potter!” They sneered, which Parvati hardly thought was fair, but Harry didn’t even seem to be paying attention to them.

“Mhm, sure.” Harry said, breathing out a heavy sigh before looking over his shoulder and mouthing a ‘sorry’ to Parvati, who merely shrugged, though in the back of her mind she wondered why Harry was on drunk kid duty when he wasn’t even a prefect. But then she realized she really didn’t care.

“Ridiculous.” Parvati mumbled as she weaved through the crowd until she came face to face with Dean’s back, and tapped his shoulder. He turned around, a bit confused before glancing slightly down to see her. That was an odd habit of his, forgetting that everyone isn’t tall, and just looking over people’s heads. The only one he didn’t do that with was Seamus, which was sort of sweet, she supposed.

“Vati! There you are!” Dean said, practically having to shout as he bent down to catch her in a quick hug and leave a friendly kiss on her cheek. She sighed and rolled her eyes, patting his shoulder as she released him.

“Yeah, I got stuck in a conversation where some fifth years were trying to mansplain quidditch to me. Anyways. Where’s Lav? She said she was going to mingle.” Parvati said, glancing around both boys, a little disappointed that she wasn’t there. Dean looked up and gasped a bit before speaking, like he’d seen something crazy.

“She seems a bit preoccupied.” Dean said with a smirk, jutting his chin across the room to where Lavender was making out with Ron Weasley. Oh. That explained the question in the dorm earlier. Parvati knew she had no reason to feel so sad right now, Lavender probably wasn’t even into girls, but it still sort of hurt. Seamus choked on his drink and let out a laugh that was a little too loud for the situation.

“Good for her, Merlin knows she’s been dying to date someone recently… plus, they might both just be odd enough together to work.” Seamus pointed out, and Parvati grimaced and swallowed down the rest of her drink quickly, just so she could focus on _anything_ else. 

“I don’t know, love. I really thought Ron fancied Hermione.” Dean mumbled as he took another sip of his butterbeer. Parvati was very happy that she hadn’t had anything to eat since dinner, because if she had it would be on the floor. It shouldn’t have hurt, obviously just because she smelt Lavender in her Amortentia, it didn’t mean Lav smelt her.

“Things change.” Seamus pointed out, and Dean nodded, turning to include Parvati in the conversation. Oh, she wanted nothing _less_ than she wanted that. 

“I guess… woah. Vati… are you okay? You look like you’re gonna pass out.” Dean asked, bending down so he was at eye level with her, keeping her looking at him with two firm hands on her shoulders.

“I uh… I’ve gotta go. I’ll talk to you two tomorrow.” Parvati mumbled, and yanked away from Dean’s grip. But of course, they wouldn’t let her leave that easily.

“Are you okay?” Seamus asked, looking less worried than Dean did, but not by much. Parvati forced herself to smile and she nodded, faking a yawn as she did.

“Mhm, for sure… just really tired, that's all.” She said, trying to sound convincing as she did, and both the boys withdrew a bit, Dean still eyeing her cautiously. He was always the hardest one to lie to, always easily seeing through her facade, but today he let it go.

“Alright well… take care of yourself.” Dean said, and she nodded, turning on heel before looking over her shoulder. She just had to get out of here, had to get somewhere where she didn’t feel _suffocated_ . 

“Mhm. You guys too.” She croaked out, and swiftly made her way through the crowd of people to the door, all but running out of it as she choked back her tears. This was ridiculous. Unbelievable. Completely batshit. There was no way that a worse day could have happened, at least in Parvati’s eyes. She’d slowly realized through this _stupid_ party that she didn’t even want to go to, that she liked Lavender… probably, it would make sense why her stomach got all weird feeling when they danced close together, and why she felt like she was going to throw up from nerves every time Lavender fell asleep in her bed. But of course, none of that made any difference anymore, not when she’d seen how _fiercely_ Lavender and Ron were entangled with each other, and she knew she should be happy for her best friend, but instead she just wanted to wring her neck. Or scream. Or break something. So instead, she swung her fist at the wall, a little shocked at the _crack_ she heard from it. Fuck. That would be her luck. She would break her knuckle from one angry outburst.

“Merlin's _beard!_ FUCK!” Parvati shouted, shaking her hand out a bit as she did and looking down at it with a grimace. She tried to bend her fingers with no avail. Wonderful, as if she needed to add a broken knuckle to the shitshow of today. Coming to terms with her sexuality, seeing her crush kiss Ronald _fucking_ Weasley, and now this. Just _perfect_ . She was moments from just sliding down the wall and burying her face in her hands so she could cry this out when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs and quickly wiped her eyes of any rouge tears so she could present like she _hadn’t_ been oddly affected by what had happened in there.

“Who's there?” Parvati heard a voice call out, and she placed it immediately as Hermione Granger. Yeah, because she really needed a lecture on top of everything _else_ tonight. Perfect.

“No one.” She called back, and she heard Hermione snort as she got closer to where she was.

“Oh yes, because empty rooms often contain screaming women and-Parvati? What’s wrong?” Hermione asked, sounding actually concerned. Parvati found that a bit surprising, because she could count on a single hand the times that hers and Hermione's conversations had gone past superficial and _all_ of them were when they were drunk at parties in the room of requirement, never out of their own volition.

“Nothing, Granger. I’m perfectly fine.” Parvati sighed, even though she knew Hermione was too smart to believe that. Maybe she’d understand that Parvati didn’t want to talk to _anyone_ about it, let alone a roommate she had nothing in common with. But there was no such luck.

“Pretty clear you’re not.” Hermione pointed out, leaning against the entrance to the stairs. Parvati rolled her eyes and let out a humorless chuckle as she regarded Hermione cooly. She wasn’t about to open up to someone who she _knew_ thought Lavender was an idiot, especially not when she was also upset at Lavender and Hermione could get the wrong idea and decide to pile on her own baggage. After all, it was _Ron_ that Lavender had been kissing, which probably broke Hermione just as much.

“You don’t care.” Parvati said flatly, and the other witch sighed and rolled her eyes, walking a little closer to her as she did.

“Come off it, Parvati. We’re roommates, I’d rather hear you talk about it now then have to listen to it in the dorm later when you talk to-.” She shook her head. The sheer idea of her talking about this with Lav made her want to throw up. She was _never_ going to tell her about how she felt, that would _ruin_ their friendship so quickly.

“I’m not talking to Lavender about this.” Parvati said, her voice flat as she tried to flex her hand again and winced. Yup. Definitely broken, but she supposed that she earned that by being dumb enough to punch a stone wall. She pushed past Hermione and sat down on the bottom stair, letting her eyes focus on the wall in front of her.

“That’s such a load of shit. You two tell each other everything.” Hermione said with a chuckle, settling down beside Parvati. For a moment she considered telling her to go away, that this was none of her business…. but in a moment of weakness she simply sighed and shrugged, leaning back on her good hand.

“I can’t tell her this.” She admitted, and Hermione cocked her head to the side, looking rightfully confused. She’d had to hear Parvati and Lavender talk about all sorts of personal things through the years

“Why?” Hermione asked, and just like that Parvati exploded, because apparently she was so much of a mess that she couldn’t keep her newfound sexuality a secret for more than ten bloody minutes, no she had to tell it to the first person to take pity on her and talk to her, even if that person was Hermione Granger.

Because how am I supposed to tell my best friend that I just broke my knuckle on a wall because I saw her kissing Ronald _fucking_ Weasley instead of me?” She snapped, and watched as Hermione’s face went from confused to understanding, softening instantly as she understood. Merlin, it was humiliating, having Hermione look at her like she was some kind of broken creature, it made her want to throw up.

“Oh.” Hermione said gently, and Parvati rolled her eyes. She didn’t need false pity right now, she needed a fucking drink or something. Maybe she could convince someone to give her a bloody cigarette, who knows. She was slowly learning that anything was possible at this bloody school.

“Yeah. Oh.” Parvati said bitterly, resting her chin on her hand. They were quiet beside each other for quite some time before Hermione cleared her throat and leaned a little closer to Parvati, bumping her shoulder with her own to get her attention.

“Well… if it makes you feel any better, I did hex Ron. Sort of got a little frustrated myself.” Hermione admitted, and Parvati couldn’t help the small grin that spread across her lips at this. It was a little funny, the idea of Hermione hexing her best friend, so it wasn’t as if she could help it.

“That… actually does help to know that, thanks.” Parvati admitted, and Hermione grinned at her, looking pleased with herself.

“Thought so.” She said, and Parvati cleared her throat, thinking of why Hermione might be out here. Probably because she _also_ saw the person she desired with their tongue down a different person’s throat and didn’t want to deal with it, but it was still common courtesy to check.

“So… I’ll take it you left for the same reason?” Parvati asked, feeling as though she’d just talked far too much about herself. Hermione sighed and nodded, leaning back on her palms as she spoke.

“Mhm.” She mumbled, and Parvati gingerly placed a hand on Hermione’s back, which made the other girl sort of look at her in surprise. Well, they were both wallowing in self pity in a hallway, might as well offer each other some comfort.

“Sorry… he’s an idiot for not seeing how you feel.” Parvati said, and she meant that. Anyone who had a brain knew that Hermione fancied Ron at least a bit at this point. Hermione sighed and shook her head.

“Honestly I shouldn’t expect him to know. It’s not like I’ve said it in _so_ many words-.” Hermione started, and Parvati shook her head. She’d been able to tell that there was something there ever since the Yule in fourth year, there was no _way_ Ron couldn’t tell, even if he was often harmlessly disconnected.

“Body language matters. You’ve made your stance very clear, at least from what I can tell. But then again, I’m a woman… maybe I can read it better, who knows.” Parvati sighed, grimacing a bit because that came off a little sexist, which hadn’t been her intent. Just that maybe Ron wasn’t the best at reading a girl’s intentions. But Hermione didn’t seem to be too put off by what Parvati said, she merely shrugged.

“Yeah. Well. Give me your hand.” Hermione sighed, holding her hand out, and Parvati hesitated. Why would Hermione need her hand? Maybe she was going to heal her hand, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t have a bit of fun with it, right?

“Granger, just because I’m bent-.” Parvati joked, and Hermione swatted her arm, giving her a stern look. But Parvati wasn’t fooled, she’d seen the small smile right before, which was welcome amid both of them crying over two relationships that were never even real.

“Merlin's sake! I’m gonna heal it, not hold it!” Hermione said with a laugh. A real one, which was nice to hear after both of them being so solemn.

“Fine, fine.” Parvati said, handing it over, as much as it hurt to move it at all at this point. Hermione examined it closely before clicking her tongue and leaning back just a bit.

“Nasty break here. But fixable.” Hermione said, turning Parvati's hand over in her own for a moment before mumbling something quietly that Parvati couldn’t quite make out. But she knew pretty quickly it was some sort of healing magic from the sharp pain in her hand that made her wrench away from Hermione and wince.

“ _Fuck._ Thanks. I, uh… I owe you.” She said, and Hermione gave her a small smile before nudging her shoulder again.

“How about you just agree to _not_ take your anger out on the school walls?” Hermione offered, and Parvati rolled her eyes before nodding. She supposed that was beneficial in many ways, no more broken joints and less possibility of getting in trouble for how she coped.

“... I guess that’s doable.” She sighed, and Hermione nodded.

“Good. And… hang in there.” Hermione said, giving her a sort of awkward pat on the shoulder, like they hadn’t just been pouring their feelings out for the last half hour or something. Parvati gave her a small smile and a nod.

“You too.” She said, and Hermione pulled herself to her feet, quickly wiping under her eyes before turning to Parvati and gesturing to herself with a raised eyebrow.

“Do I look like I’ve been crying?” Hermione asked,and Parvati shrugged. She didn’t want to _lie_ , but also… it could easily be blamed on something else. Allergies, sneezing, injury, smoking… any of those.

“Not actively.” Parvati said, after deciding on how to respond. Hermione sighed and grimaced, rubbing her temples as she did.

“ _Wonderful._ ” Hermione sighed, and Parvati shrugged. It was the best she could do, saying that she for sure didn’t look like she was crying would’ve been an outright lie, and Hermione would’ve seen through it.

“It just looks like you sneezed or something. No one’ll be the wiser.” She insisted, and Hermione breathed a little easier and nodded.

“Brilliant. I’ll see you upstairs.” Hermione said, giving her one last squeeze on the shoulder, and Parvati offered her a feeble smile.

“Mhm.” She mumbled, and just like that the other witch was gone, leaving Parvati feeling a bit lighter. Okay, so maybe Hermione wasn’t as stuck up as she’d thought, and maybe that could be something she explored. After all, they’d been dorm mates for years and hardly knew anything about each other… if she couldn’t spend a lot of time around Lavender, at least there was someone else she could talk to.

* * *

Okay, it wasn’t fair that it felt like she had a hangover when she hadn’t drank _anything_ last night. But… maybe greif did that too, who knows. All Parvati currently knew was that if she ate anything she was probably going to throw it right back up, so she settled on some tea, completely prepared to enjoy it in silence, until she heard someone clear their throat. She knew from the perfume alone that it was Lavender.

“Okay, what did I do?” Lavender asked with a sigh as she settled next to Parvati at breakfast, her eyes wide with concern. Parvati raised an eyebrow and looked over at her, a little confused. Sure, she’d gone to bed without saying goodnight, but that was mostly because she didn’t feel like hearing all the sorted details about her night with Ron.

“Hm? You didn’t do anything.” Parvati assured her, taking another sip from her tea before turning more to look at Lavender, actually observing her. She looked tense, like she was worried they were going to fight or something, and she looked sad. Okay, so maybe it _had_ come across like Parvati was ignoring her, but that wasn’t her intent.

“Liar. I know when you’re mad at me, Vati.” She said quietly, and for a moment Parvati felt bad, before remembering it had literally been 12 hours and Lavender was making a big deal out of nothing. It was within her rights to put distance between them when Lavender was practically buzzing with new relationship energy.

“I’m not mad, I just don’t want to spend my breakfast having to hear about how Ron is your true love. It was more than enough to see your tongue down his throat last night.” She spat, knowing her voice was harsher than intended, but it did seem to get her point across as Lavender _finally_ leaned out of her space and she could stop smelling her perfume, a reminder of her _stupid_ desires.

“Oh. I didn’t know that that upset you.” Lavender said, and Parvati shrugged. Upset her was the wrong word, she’d been hurt not upset.

“Didn’t even realize I left.” Parvati mumbled, tracing the grains of the wood on the table as Lavender let out a frustrated sigh.

“I just thought you were tired! That’s what Dean and Seamus said, because _yeah_ I did ask after my best friend! Parvati… I’ll end it if it makes you this upset-.” Parvati was quick to shake her head, because what kind of a friend would she be if she let Lavender end her relationship just because she was a little annoyed. She wouldn’t be a good one, that was for sure.

“No! That’s… don’t do that, it’s not healthy. I’m just being a child about it. I am happy for you finding someone, Lav. Just a bit of a shock is all, Ron being your choice.”

“He’s really nice. And charming.” Lavender said, giving that telltale sign that she wanted to gush about how _lovely_ their housemate was. But Parvati simply was not in the mood today, it was too early.

“I’m sure.” Parvati sighed, not wanting to talk any more about Ron and his possible _charms_ . Not that he wasn’t perfectly nice… she was just mad at him for reasons outside of his control right now. Because how was he supposed to _know_ he’d stolen her crush when she didn’t even know for sure that she _had_ one until last night.

“We’ve gotta find you a bloke, then we can go on a double date.” Lavender said, patting Parvati's forearm as she did. She forced herself to give Lavender a pained smile before responding. This was going to be an interesting time.

“Nah, not really interested in dating.” Parvati said, keeping her voice low and even as she took another bite of her food. But Lavender wasn’t buying that, of course she wasn’t, because they could read each other like books, there was no hiding anything. Lavender sighed and rested a hand on top of Parvati’s, almost causing her to jerk away. No. She wasn’t going to act all weird, she’d _promised_ herself that.

“Oh, surely you have your eye on someone.” Lavender said, giving her the normal look that would’ve cracked Parvati, but not today. Instead she took a sip of tea and shrugged, coming across as normal as she could.

“Mhm. But they’re spoken for.” Parvati said, the words coming smoothly off her tongue because they weren’t a lie. And they seemed to silence Lavender for a moment before she must’ve come up with a bright idea.

“You know the best thing to do about that?” Lavender asked, and Parvati raised an eyebrow. Well, this should be interesting. 

“What?” She asked, and Lavender looked all too pleased with herself when she said what she thought the best thing to do was.

“Date someone else and make him jealous. Works every time.” Lavender said with a low chuckle, and Parvati shook her head. As if Lavender could ever get jealous of that, she’d be over the moon at the mere possibility of Parvati dating someone.

“It won’t work on this person, they’ve got no interest in me. Pretty clear they consider me a friend.” Parvati insisted, hoping that would be enough to get her off her back, but no. It only seemed to fan the fire.

“Is it Harry?” Lavender asked, sounding far too excited. Parvati shook her head and sighed, knowing the only reason that Lavender was hoping for that was so that they could have boyfriends who were also best friends, thus making double dates easier. But she wasn’t going to date someone to get over Lavender, that wasn’t fair to them.

“What?! Merlin no! He’s a nice guy, but he’s _really_ not my type.” Parvati said with a small chuckle, because that wasn’t a lie. Aside from the Yule Ball, she and Harry hadn’t had that many interactions, and the Yule was a mess in and of itself. Now she understood why she’d felt lousy whenever she looked at Lavender that night, at least. She knew it wasn’t because she was jealous over Seamus.

“What is your type then?” Lavender asked, breaking through her thoughts, and Parvati froze, because she almost said ‘you’, but that was a terrible idea. Absolutely horrendous.

“Um… blondes.” Parvati said, wincing when her voice cracked on the last word. Luckily, that was enough to keep Lavender from pushing her anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

Of course Parvati hadn’t expected the days after Lavender and Ron’s relationship began to be easy, she knew it wasn’t going to be. Lavender always fell hard and fast and ended up either getting hurt or burning out, but right now, it seemed to be going fine. And  _ obviously  _ Parvati was happy for her best friend, why wouldn’t she be? But being around her and Ron when they were in that new of a relationship started taking a toll, so instead of going to the library to hang out with Lavender during her free period, Parvati made a command decision to go out to the courtyard, have a smoke, calm down, and hope no one saw her. The first part of that was going fine, but of course she wasn’t alone, Dean had seen her and came over and now he just seemed to be observing her, which was a bit nerve wracking. Someone staring wordlessly at you would make  _ anyone  _ a little uneasy, no matter how well you know the person.

“Wow. You look like hell, Vati.” Dean said with a low chuckle, and Parvati rolled her eyes and glared at him. Stupid Dean with his stupid happy relationship and not screwed up friendship… okay, stupid wasn’t fair. She actually quite liked hanging out with Dean, but she also didn’t want him trying to make her feel better today, and she  _ knew  _ that was going to happen. He always did that.   


“Shut up, D. I’m  _ so  _ not in the mood.” Parvati grumbled, taking another drag from her cigarette, being careful not to blow any smoke in Dean’s face. He hated when that happened. Dean glanced behind her, like was expecting someone to be following her, but of course there was no one there. Lavender was too busy spending every waking moment with her boyfriend, Parvati thought bitterly.   


“Where’s Lavender? Thought you two were practically attached at the hip.” Dean said, a smile on his face. Parvati sighed and shook her head, not really wanting to talk about it, but knowing that she had to.   
  
“Yes well, currently she’s too busy being attached to Ron’s face for that, thanks.” Parvati snapped, and Dean took a step back, looking a little shocked at her outburst    


“Merlin! No need to be an ass about it, I was just asking.” He said, and Parvati nodded. He was right, it wasn’t as if he’d done anything wrong.   


“Sorry, you’re right.” She said, and Dean took a deep breath and ducked his head a bit, clearly trying to catch her eye, but she wasn’t in the mood. She knew that Dean would ask his question either way, eye contact or not.   


“So what's bothering you?” Dean asked, so earnestly and casually that it felt wrong to lie to him. It always felt wrong to lie to him, but that didn’t mean that Parvati wasn’t going to  _ try _ .   
  
“Nothing.” She tried, but Dean obviously wasn’t convinced. Damn. She supposed that that was what she got for having friends who actually cared about her.   


“You literally cannot lie to me, Parvati. You’ve  _ never  _ been able to lie to me.” Dean reminded her, and yeah, he was right but that didn’t mean that he had to  _ say  _ it. She thought about it, and weighed the pros and cons of telling Dean how she felt about Lavender. Pro: Dean was out and had a boyfriend, meaning the chances of him being homophobic were far lower. Pro: Dean had never judged her unless she did something  _ really  _ stupid and deserved it. Con: He could say she was being selfish for falling for someone straight. Con: He could write her off if he felt that it was too much. Pro: He’s Dean, and he’d never do that to her. ‘Okay’, she thought, ‘I can tell him this’   


“Fine. But… I have a question first.” She said, chewing on her lip as Dean raised his eyebrow.   


“Go ahead.” He said, and Parvati was silent for a long moment because what  _ was  _ she going to ask? ‘How did you know you weren’t straight’ really sounded a bit too obvious, but it  _ would  _ get right to the point… no. She had a better idea.   


“How’d you know you liked Seamus? Like… did you just wake up one day  _ knowing _ , or how did that work?” Parvati asked, and Dean seemed pleasantly surprised that this was her question. And it wasn’t like she didn’t want to know this, Seamus and Dean’s origin story seemed so obvious but also so vague, it would be nice to clear things up.   
  
“Well… personally for me, it was gradule. The feelings changed over time slowly, until there was no denying how in love I was -I  _ am _ \- with that boy. I can’t pinpoint exactly when it started to shift, but I pretty much knew by the Yule Ball that I at least wasn’t straight.” Dean explained, and Parvati raised an eyebrow. That was a good year before he and Seamus got together, what was the hold up?   


“And you waited until fifth year because…?” Parvati asked, and Dean sighed as he shrugged, scuffing his shoe on the ground as he did.   


“Because I didn’t know if he felt the same. I was honestly ready to give up until one night, we all got a bit too much firewhiskey in us in the room of requirement-.” Parvati was certain she knew the exact night he was referring to. The night when their dynamic seemed to shift just a bit, forever.   


“Wait, was this the night that Lavender threw up on Harry’s shoes and me and Ginny had to carry her back to the dorms because she got too drunk?” Parvati asked, a little surprised that that night had come up twice in conversation after almost a year of never talking about it, the universe works in mysterious ways.   


“Mhm.” Dean said, chuckling softly. Parvati nodded and smiled faintly. Aside from the throwing up, the rest of that night hadn’t been too bad, even if she couldn’t remember much of it at this point.   


“I  _ knew  _ there was something going on. Sorry, continue.” Parvati said, taking another drag from her cigarette to keep her busy so she could focus. Dean waved her off with a good natured smile, used to the normal give and take of their conversations.   


“It’s fine. He just… he sat next to me, and told me  _ so  _ sincerely how pretty he thought my eyes were, and how much he liked my hands, and he grabbed them. Like this.” He grabbed both of Parvati’s hands to demonstrate, which she found to be a bit much “And just held them for the longest time and I thought my heart was going to explode, it was beating so fast. Anyway, he fell asleep with his head on my lap, so I had to carry him up to our dorm, and when I tried to set him down on his bed, he pulled me next to him… and that’s how we got together.” Dean said, a faint smile on his face. Parvati knew it was meant to be sweet, but her brain couldn’t help but poke fun.   


“Dean, I didn’t need that visual.” Parvati groaned, covering her face with her arm before peeking out at Dean, who looked rather confused.   
  
“What? Oh! Merlin, Vati! That is not what I meant. I meant we  _ literally  _ slept next to each other.” He said, smacking her arm when he realized what she was implying. Parvati chuckled and nodded because yeah, that made more sense.

“Okay, thats… thats actually really sweet.” Parvati admitted, and Dean beamed at her.   
  
“Isn’t it? Now… what's eating away at you, you only ever smoke when you’re stressed out by something.” Dean pointed out.   


“That’s not true-.” Parvati protested, but she was silenced by a single raised of Dean’s eyebrow. Of course he could see right through it, that was the issue with having good friends. You could never just wallow, it always had to  _ mean  _ something.   


“Yes it is. The Yule, when you had that weird crush on Draco Malfoy for like a week last year, your first ever date even though it was with  _ me  _ and we both decided to not even do it, every test you’ve ever had in Snapes class… Those are the only times I’ve seen you smoke this much without being drunk. So. Hand them over.” Dean said, patiently holding his hand out. She raised an eyebrow and turned away from him, not willing to give up her pack that she’d had to bring at the beginning of the year. Granted, she had four more hidden around her bed, but still. Never hurt to not lose any of them.   


“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Parvati lied, and Dean gave her a look and wiggled his fingers, silently signaling to just hand it over.   
  
“Wanker. Open your robe, I know it's in the pocket.” Dean said, and Parvati rolled her eyes, but reached inside her pocket and tossed him the pack, which he promptly tucked away. What a wanker, caring far too much for her health.   


“Ugh. Do you  _ have  _ to police my habits?” Parvati asked, and Dean nodded. Wanker.   


“Yes. It’s called being a good friend, I’d rather you not get lung cancer.” Dean said with a chuckle and Parvati raised her eyebrow. That sounded sort of familiar

“Huh?” She asked, and Dean sighed and rolled his eyes.   
  
“Lung cancer. Your lungs go to shit.” Dean explained, and Parvati supposed that was probably what the warning on the side of the carton was for, but she’d elected to just ignore that unless something bad happened.   
  
“Right. Anyways… I think I might like Lavender.” She admitted, training her eyes on the pavement, sort of expecting to get yelled at. She didn’t know  _ why  _ she was expecting that, Dean had never really yelled at her, it just felt like maybe she deserved it. But Dean had no such response.   
  
“No shit.” He chuckled, and Parvati gaped at him. That was the response he went with? Really? Not what Parvati was expecting  _ at all _ .   


“You knew?!” Parvati asked, and Dean nodded, not looking judgemental, much to Parvati’s relief.   


“ _ Please _ ! Of course I knew! You look at her like she’s the entire world, Vati. You look at her like…” He trailed off, pressing his lips together, and Parvati slowly realized what he meant. Oh Merlin.   


“Like you looked at Seamus before you got together.” Parvati finished, feeling her stomach turn because yeah, it's one thing to have a crush, but it's a whole other thing when your friend who is in  _ love  _ says that you look at said crush like they’re the world.   


“Mhm.” He muttered, and Parvati groaned and covered her eyes, wanting nothing more than to just disappear into the ground. She had to be the worst best friend in the  _ world  _ right now.   


“Oh I am  _ royally  _ fucked.” She whispered, and Dean sighed, pulling her into a tight hug. It was nice, the smell of his cologne calmed her down just a bit. Reminded her that she wasn’t alone.   


“No you aren’t, come on.” Dean sighed, running a comforting hand through her hair, just like he had the year before when she was stressed about owls. Parvati sighed and buried her face against his chest, just wanting to block out the world for a moment,   


“She’s with Ron.” She said, her voice muffled by his sweater. He let out a quiet chuckle and rested his chin on top of her head.   


“Mhm, doesn’t mean you can’t be a supportive friend.” Dean reminded her. Parvati rolled her eyes and pulled back from the hug.   


“I know, but-.” She started, but Dean shook his head and crossed his arms.   


“Just don’t be weird about it, yeah?” He said, and Parvati sighed and nodded, leaning against the wall.   


“I’ll do my best. Now can I have my cigarettes back?” Parvati asked, holding her hand out to him, but Dean smacked it away, giving her a look that she knew was  _ meant  _ to be chastising, but that was rather hard for Dean to actually accomplish.   


“Absolutely not.” He said firmly, and they both paused when they heard footsteps approaching them. Better to not be talking about smoking in front of a teacher, but luckily it was just Padma.

“What are you holding from my sister, D?” Padma asked, slinging her arm around Parvati’s shoulders as she beamed up at the tall Gryffindor. Dean let out a heavy sigh and leaned against the wall.   


“She’s smoking again.” Dean said, and Parvati gave him a look as Padma gasped next to her and smacked her shoulder lightly to get her attention.   


“Parvati! You said you’d quit.” Padma said, giving her a withering look. Parvati shrank under it and held her hands up in surrender, before remembering she had ammunition that she could throw right back at her twin.   


“And you said you’d stop smoking weed.” Parvati pointed out, and Padma opened her mouth once, and then closed it before she shrugged and looked away.   


“That’s… not the point.” She mumbled, and Parvati chuckled and shook her head.   


“Hm. Hypocrite.” Parvati said easily, turning her nose up to the wind. Padma let out a heavy sigh and continued talking.   
  
“Mine isn’t  _ nearly  _ as likely to kill! Besides, it's for anxiety!” She protested, and Parvati let out a small chuckle and shook her head. No one was buying that excuse, not one single fucking person.   


“Sure, we  _ all  _ buy weed from Luna Lovegood for  _ anxiety. _ ” Parvati snorted, and Padma rolled her eyes and huffed.   


“Oh, shove off.” She said, and Parvati shrugged. Why should she?   


“Whatever.” Parvati murmured, knowing she  _ could  _ press this argument, but Padma wouldn’t let her win. Probably.   


“What were you two talking about so intensely, I got curious.” Padma said, and Parvati gave Dean a worried look. She knew that her sister probably wouldn’t care, but there was always that  _ chance _ .   


“Well-.” She started, willing to spin an intricate lie, but Dean beat her to the punch.   
  
“Your sister finally realized she fancies Lavender.” Dean sighed, and Parvati shot him a look. Padma looked extremely pleased as she squeezed around Parvati’s shoulders. Well, that could mean one of two things. Either she was happy, or she had money riding on it.   
  
“Took you long enough! Also, D. Tell your boyfriend he owes me two galleons, he thought it was going to take at least another year before she figured it out.” Padma said, sounding far too pleased with herself. Parvati shook her arm off and glared.

“I hate all of you.” Parvati grumbled, and Dean made a noise like a deflating balloon as Padma let out a full laugh.   
  
“Hey! I didn’t even know about the bet!” Dean protested, and Parvati thought about that for a moment. Of course he was right, it was wrong to lump him in with the assholes, obviously it was.   
  
“Right. Sorry. I hate you and Seamus. I love Dean.” Parvati said, winking at the taller Gryffindor, who seemed to be perfectly happy with that response.   


“Oi! Patil, no! That’s my job.” Seamus said, and Parvati jumped. She hadn’t even noticed that Seamus had come up behind Dean and inserted himself beside his boyfriend. The second she saw him though, her eyes narrowed and she clenched her jaw before taking another drag of her cigarette, considering putting it out so she could properly go after Seamus, but decided there was still too much left, especially because  _ someone  _ had stolen her pack.   
  
“You slimy little wanker!” She spat, and Seamus’s eyes widened, clearly a little bit afraid.   


“What did I do?!” He asked, slowly trying to back up, accidentally backing himself into the wall as Parvati’s glare narrowed.   


“Don’t!” She got in one good smack to the back of his head “Make!” The moment of shock was gone and Seamus slowly twisted his way out of her grip like a  _ wanker. _ “Bets!” She forgot how fast Seamus could run when he was properly motivated “On!” Parvati smacked him once more on the arm as hard as she could. “Me!” She said, slightly out of breath from chasing him down. Seamus waited a moment before slowly lowering his arms and rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. Oh, that wanker. He didn’t get to act all innocent after betting on his  _ friend,  _ Parvati thought.

“So I’ll take it Padma won?” Seamus asked, and Parvati sighed and rolled her eyes, glaring over at her sister.   


“Yes.” Parvati said, and Seamus rolled his eyes and groaned. Clearly he’d been pretty confident that he was going to win this one.   


“Fuck. Here.” Seamus sighed, digging in his robe pockets before a good minute before only producing one galleon, and dropping it into Padma’s waiting hand. The look on her face was almost comical as she pocketed the coin.   


“This is only one.” Padma grumbled, and Seamus sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Clearly he hadn’t been planning to lose the bet, Parvati observed.   
  
“I’ve got another in my dorm, I’ll give it to you tomorrow, alright?” Seamus asked, and Padma rolled her eyes, like  _ that  _ was a big deal. Oh, so she could have the patience to wait for Parvati to reveal herself for financial gain but not enough to wait a day to get her full payout? What a wanker, Parvati thought.   


“Fine. Or… you could just buy for me from Luna.” Padma offered, and Parvati stifled a laugh at the shocked look on Seamus’s face, like it was crazy to even suggest such a thing. Honestly, it wasn’t. Luna’s prices were perfectly reasonable, but not reasonable enough that something could be bought with two galleons, so  _ maybe  _ it made a bit of sense.   


“As if! That is three times what I owe you!” Seamus protested, and Padma rolled her eyes. Honestly, this was one of the reasons why the four of them hanging out was so interesting, what with Dean’s calmness and Seamus and Padma’s personalities being so similar that they always clashed, it never made for a dull time. Parvati and Dean shared a look and shrugged before Parvati flicked her cigarette away and stomped it out before vanishing it. Can’t be leaving litter around the school, that could easily make her lose house points.   


“Well… Worth a shot.” Padma mumbled, and Parvati shoved her lightly glaring at her. Honestly, she was a little irritated because Padma was her  _ sister _ , and couldn’t even do her the courtesy of figuring out she was queer before deciding to make a bet on whether or not she wanted to be with her best friend. It just seemed rude.   
  
“Whatever, Pads. Oh! Could I bum one? I’m all out.” Seamus said, holding his hand out. Yeah, because that’s a good thing to ask after placing a wager on someone’s sexuality.   


“Ask your boyfriend, he stole my pack.” Parvati snapped, and Seamus turned to look up at Dean, his eyes pleading.   


“ _ Please _ Dean?” Seamus asked, clasping his hands together. But his boyfriend wasn’t swayed, much to Parvati's delight because if  _ she  _ didn’t get her pack, neither did Seamus.   


“No.” He said, and Seamus rolled his eyes, clearly not deterred.   


“Come on! Please!” Seamus said again, and for some reason, much to Parvati's distain, that worked.   
  
“Ugh! Fine.” He said, and Parvati was more than a little annoyed that he’d given into Seamus. He left the pack wide open when he picked one out for Seamus, Parvati realized, and made a grab to get them back.   


“Give them back, D.” Parvati said, trying to yank them from his hands.   


“Nope, you already had yours. Plus, this way I can help you quit… or at least wean back down a bit.” Dean said, wrenching the crumpled pack back and tucking it back into his pocket.

“Light me?” Seamus asked, his grin making Parvati want to hex him in the face. Because of course  _ of course  _ Dean gives in for his boyfriend and gives him one of  _ her  _ cigarettes and  _ of course  _ Seamus has the  _ audacity  _ to ask her to light it. Wanker.   


“Fine.” She snapped, and Seamus smile at her. Asshole.   


“Thanks.” He said and took a long drag, letting the smoke slowly filter back out.  “ _ Fuck _ , thats better.” He sighed, and he honestly walked right into the joke.   


“You’re acting like he gave you a hell of a lot more than a cigarette just now.” Padma joked and damn, Parvati was a bit annoyed that she was always quicker on the uptake. And Seamus was just as quick with the retort.   


“Well-.” He tried, and Parvati slapped a hand over his mouth, grimacing.   
  
“No! Not an invitation to talk about your sex life, I was just pointing out that moaning becasue you’ve got a cigarette is  _ weird _ , Finnegan.” Parvati said, and Seamus slapped her hand down and opened his mouth to offer a retort, but didn’t get to before they were interrupted by someone clearing their throat. Parvati watched as Seamus vanished his cigarette and turned around quickly. Yeah, because  _ that  _ didn’t look suspicious.

“Patils. Finnegan. Thomas.” They all stiffened at the sound of his voice. Because of  _ course  _ it would be Malfoy who would catch them all reeking of smoke.   


“What do you want, Draco?” Parvati sighed, turning to see the pale boy glaring daggers down at her. Oh great, this was going to be a situation where she lost house points either way.  _ Wonderful. _   


“Don’t you have class right now?” He sniffed, and Parvati rolled her eyes, not exactly wanting to play nice with Draco today, she just didn’t have the energy.   
  
“No, we’ve all got a free period, you wanker.” Parvati snapped, ignoring Dean’s warning look as she turned to face the Slytherin head on. Draco sneered and regarded her like she was a piece of trash stuck to his shoe, just like he always did. As if they weren’t both people, as if he was somehow better just because he was richer.   


“Hm. 10 points from Gryffindor for foul language.” He said, his tone coming out condescending. She heard Padma scoff behind her.   
  
“What? That’s not-.” Padma tried, but the Slytherin held up a thin finger to silence her, nose turned up in the air. If there wouldn’t have been terrible consequences, Parvati would’ve broken that stuck up prick’s nose here and now, but she knew better. Her parents would hate if a fuss had to be made just because she got into a fight.   


“Five from Ravenclaw for backtalk.” Draco snapped, but before anyone could say or do anything else, Parvati heard a cough come from behind Draco, and saw Pansy lean against the wall.   
  
“Draco, leave them be, they’re just out here for their free period, which they’re  _ allowed  _ to do. Don’t take your stupid bad attitude out on them. Save it for the idiots who actually need it. Sorry, Vati.” Pansy sighed, pushing her way in front of the blonde. Parvati shook her head and shrugged, glancing down at the ground, trying to ignore the shocked looks on  _ everyone’s  _ faces, even Padma’s.   
  
“It’s fine.” She mumbled, and all six of them were silent for a good moment before Draco cleared his throat.   


“ _ Vati?”  _ Draco asked incredulously, and Pansy scoffed and shook her head, crossing her arms as she did.   


“We grew up together, Dray. I swear, you pay attention to no one but yourself. I’ll get him out of your hair.” Pansy said, and Parvati offered her a half hearted smile.   


“Uh… thanks.” She said, and Pansy gave her a nod of recognition as she dragged the blonde back to the castle. The air was thick with tension for a long moment before Padma finally asked the question Parvati was waiting on.   


“Are you and Pansy friends again?” Padma asked, raising an eyebrow and Parvati shook her head. To her knowledge, no, they weren’t friends. They weren’t  _ enemies  _ either, not since the first year. After Pansy apologized to Neville for that one comment, they sort of made an uneasy alliance, even if she refused to apologize for anything else.   
  
“No… I mean, occasionally we talk when she needs to bum a cigarette or has questions about if a girl would be down with her… but other than that, no.” Parvati said, and Padma shrugged, as if she was considering what it could be before giving up.   


“Hm. Weird.”   
  
“Give her some credit, maybe she’s trying to be kinder.” Parvati said, knowing that probably wasn’t the case. She was probably just annoyed at Draco, it was bound to happen at some point, he didn’t seem like the most likeable person to begin with. Seamus sighed and shrugged, tucking his hands in his pockets.

“Doubt it. Probably just high.” He offered, and both Padma and Parvati glared over at him, because that  _ wasn’t  _ a fair assessment.   
  
“Shut up, Seamus.” Parvati snapped, and the boy looked rightfully taken aback.   
  
“Hey! I didn’t know we were suddenly on Parkinson’s side.” Seamus protested, and Parvati rolled her eyes. She knew there was no reason to defend Pansy, she could be and often  _ was _ a rather terrible person, but it felt wrong to be rude about her after she’d been not terrible for a moment.   
  
“She just saved us from losing house points… and probably detention if it were up to Malfoy, we should at least be a little grateful.” She pointed out, and Seamus thought for a moment before nodding.   
“Fine, I’ll give her that much.” He said, and Parvati was  _ going  _ to thank him, but didn’t get the chance before she was interrupted.

“Good. Now, we should head in, it’s gonna start raining.” Dean interjected, and Parvati looked up. She supposed it was plenty overcast, but Padma beat her to a response.

“Ah. The flagpole speaks the truth.” Padma said gravely, and Parvati stifled a chuckle as she lightly shoved her sister. Although Dean took it in good fun, his boyfriend seemed eager to defend his honor.

“Padma.” Seamus warned, and Dean glanced around his boyfriend, giving Parvati a look that clearly read ‘here we go again’.

“What?” Padma asked, doing her best to sound innocent as Seamus glared up at her.

“Fuck off.” Seamus said, and Padma chuckled and shook her head, wrapping an arm around the shorter boy’s shoulders.

“Fuck yourself off, pint sized.” Padma shot back, and Parvati rolled her eyes and sighed.

“Merlin's  _ beard.”  _ She muttered, but couldn’t help the smile on her face. At least the crude joke had given her a sort of break from thinking about Lavender.


	3. Chapter 3

Parvati had found that throughout the years, studying in her dorm had become easier then doing so in the library. Less distractions and such…. or at least most days there were less distractions, today it seemed like she picked up her textbook and Lavender knew THAT was when to knock lightly on on the wall beside her bed

“Can I come in?” Lavender asked quietly, and Parvati looked up and nodded, giving her a smile as she scooted up.

“Mhm. What’s up, Lav?” Parvati asked, and Lavender sat down and pulled the bed curtains closed and tucked her legs under her.

“So… there’s a quidditch match tomorrow…” Lavender said, trailing off as she fiddled with her fingers. Parvati leaned back against her headboard and cleared her throat, trying to draw Lavender’s attention back.

“Yeah, I know.” She prompted, and Lavender was silent for a long moment before she spoke again.

“Are you still going with me? Or not because I can understand if you-.” Parvati put a hand on either side of Lavender’s arms to calm her down and chuckled. It was sweet that she was thinking of her, but it wasn’t needed. Nothing had to change.   


“Lavender. Slow down. Why wouldn’t I go with you?” Parvati asked with a small laugh. Lavender took a deep breath, clearly relieved.   


“Because I’m dating a player now and maybe you’ll find me talking about Ron to be annoying.” Lavender said quickly, and Parvati raised an eyebrow and shook her head. Okay, so maybe she’d been avoiding Lavender on accident, because why the hell would she have an issue going with her friend?   


“No, I’d love to go with you. I was just in a bad mood the other day, and I didn’t mean to take it out on you.” Parvati explained, and Lavender shrugged, leaning back on her palms as she did.   
  
“It’s okay. I didn’t think you were taking it out on me, I just thought you didn’t approve of Ron.”   


“Well, he’s a nice guy… I think you two will be good together.” Parvati said, and a part of her meant that truly.   


“I don’t know, I think he likes Hermione better.” Lavender sighed, and this made Parvati raise an eyebrow, remembering the conversation she’d had with their roommate the other day.   


“Um… if he likes Hermione better, then he should break up with you and tell her how he feels, it's only fair to the both of you to not keep you on a string.” She said, and she meant that completely, especially after knowing first hand that Hermione  _ had  _ feelings for Ron, if this was just some way to get back at her, Parvati hoped Ron would come to his senses before he hurt anyone. But just as quickly as Lavender had brought it up, she shrugged it off and shook her head.   


“I don’t think that's what he’s doing.” Lavender said, and Parvati nodded, relieved. As much as she didn’t want to deal with it, she totally would if need be.   


“Good. Because I can and will challenge him to a duel.” Parvati said, her tone mostly joking, but that apparently wasn’t enough for Lavender, who gave her a warning look.   


“ _ Vati _ .” Lavender said, and Parvati rolled her eyes. She wasn’t even being serious.   


“I know, I know. I don’t want you getting hurt, okay?” She asked   


“I can take care of myself.” Lavender said softly, squeezing Parvatis hand   


“I know. Doesn’t mean you should have to.” She said, and she meant it. In fact...

“Where are you going?” Lavender asked as Parvati stood up    


“I’m gonna go have a little chat with Ron.” Parvati said, and before she could leave, she felt Lavenders hand loop around her wrist, effectively stopping her.   
  
“Don’t do anything rash!” Lavender insisted, and Parvati looked back at her with a reassuring smile.   


“Just laying down rules!” She said, trying her best to sound comforting. She wasn’t going to be yelling at her best friends boyfriend.   


“... Fine.” Lavender sighed, letting go of her wrist so she could walk to the common room.   


“Ron Weasley. Just the boy I was looking for.” She said, hoping her voice came out easy as she approached the boy, who was sitting with a few other quidditch players.   


“Oh. Hey Parvati… whats up?” Ron asked, his voice cracking on the last word as he pulled himself up, hands jammed into his pockets.   


“You’re dating Lavender.” Parvati said, and Ron raised an eyebrow   


“Yes, I am.” He said slowly, like he wasn’t sure if this was some kind of trap.   


“Do you actually like her?” She asked, and she saw the alarm on Ron’s face before he spoke.   


“Of course! Why else would I be dating her?” Ron asked, looking confused, and that made Parvati feel a bit more at ease. This wasn’t something that was going to end up hurting Lavender by design, that's good.   


“To make someone jealous. Someone super smart who is  _ also  _ in our house?” Parvati hinted, raising her eyebrow and jutting her chin towards Hermione. It still didn’t seem to sink in quite yet.   


“What? Oh.  _ Oh _ . No, I’m not doing that right now, I promise.” He said, and dammit, he looked pretty sincere. That was both a really good sign and made Parvati’s heart sink, for completely different reasons.   


“Good. That’s good. Don’t break her heart.” She said, trying her best to sound intimidating. To his credit, Ron did take pity on her and nod, trying his best to look grave as he did.

“I’ll do my best.” He said. Good. Very good.   


“That’s what I like to hear. Fancy a smoke?” Parvati asked, and Ron shifted around uncomfortably.   


“I don’t do weed-.” Parvati put up a hand to silence him.   


“It’s just a regular cigarette, Weasley.” She said, and he seemed relieved at that. Did she honestly seem like the type to get stoned right now?   


“Oh. Then yeah, sure.”

“Come on, then.” She said, leading the redhead out of the commons and towards the astronomy tower, hoping to find it unoccupied.   


“Where are we going?” Ron asked after a moment, and Parvati sighed   


“Astronomy tower.” She said, knowing her tone was a little clipped without meaning. He hadn’t asked a question that was at all out of the realm of normality   


“Why?”   
  
“Hardly ever gets checked. Plus it's open, easy to blow the smoke out and not as many cleansing charms are needed because the smell doesn’t stick to our clothes.” She explained, and for a moment Ron was silent before giving her a quick smile   


“Oh. Smart.” He said, and Parvati nodded. She prided herself on situational intelligence.   


“Mhm. Padma may be the Ravenclaw, but I like to think we’re equal in intelligence.” Parvati reasoned.   


“Right.” He sighed, and Parvati quickly lit one cigarette, holding it between two fingers   


“Here.” She said, passing the lit one over to him before lighting a second one for herself.   


“Thanks.” Ron said, and took a long inhale, coughing just a bit on the exhale “Merlin, I haven’t had a cigarette since the summer. I’m trying to mostly quit during quidditch season, it helps me fly better.” Ron explained, and Parvati instantly felt guilty because  _ of course  _ she’d forgotten that Ron was playing quidditch, and of course he was trying to not fuck up his lungs.   


“Shit. You should’ve said that-.” He waved her off and took another puff, giving her a kind smile as he did.   


“One won’t kill me. Plus, I should get to know my girlfriend’s best friend, right?” He asked, and she returned his smile with a half hearted one and took a drag from her own cigarette.   


“Yeah.” She sighed. For a long moment, it seemed like neither of them really knew what to say, which was fair. The last time they’d been ‘alone’ or damn near together was when her sister and his best friend were there too. Seemed like his mind was going to the same place, because he cleared his throat.   


“So… I don’t think I ever apologized to Padma for what an ass I was fourth year-.” Parvati waved him off and chuckled, knowing already that Padma had all but forgotten what a terrible night that was. Plus, they’d been 14, she could hardly base all her judgements off of that one night.   


“She knows. Don’t worry. Harry kinda did a blanket apology. Plus, I understand being so completely taken with someone that it seems like no one else in the world is even in the room. Had a similar thing happen to me that night.”   


“Really? Who with?” Ron asked, and Parvati swallowed heavily as she looked away from Ron. What was she supposed to say? ‘Your girlfriend’? No. Of course not.   


“Oh, you don’t know them. They were from Beauxbaton.” Parvati lied, thinking back to Lavender’s smile that night, and how jealous she’d felt. How she’d thought it was of the boy Lavender was dancing with, when it was so clearly for her.   
“Ah. Gotcha. I don’t blame you, I know the girls from that school were pretty, not sure about the guys-.” Parvati cleared her throat and cut him off, figuring at least  _ some  _ level of honesty was earned.   


“It was a girl.” She clarified, and Ron blinked for a moment before nodding and taking another drag from his cigarette, oddly unfazed by her confession.   
  
“Oh. In that case  _ yeah  _ I totally get it.” Ron said, and Parvati couldn’t stop her heart from pounding because somehow the third person she’s actually come out to is  _ Ron Weasley _ . How ironic. And she only counts Hermione and Dean before him, because Padma and Seamus figured it out all on their own. After a moment, Parvati clears her throat, realizing just how silent she’s been.   


“I remember how you reacted to Fleur Delacour. It was quite funny.” Parvati said, and Ron grimaced and looked away, his ears turning a little pink at the tips as he did. Fair, Parvati thought it would probably be quite embarrassing to be that infatuated with someone who you’d never even met.   


“Merlin, I want to forget that ever happened, especially since she’s engaged to my older brother now.” He sighed, and Parvati raised an eyebrow. That was news to her, but it wasn’t like she kept up with the life and times of the Weasley household, she had no reason to. If anything that was  _ super  _ important happened she could just hear it from Lavender.   


“No shit. Really? Which one?” She asked   


“Bill. He graduated before we got into the school. They make a good couple, and they make each other super happy, so I can’t complain. Took mum and Ginny a little bit to come around, but I think they’ve made their peace now.” Ron explained, and Parvati nodded. That made sense, she was certain that  _ whoever  _ she or her sister brought home, it would take her mother a few weeks to come to terms with it. Probably  _ longer  _ for her, but she didn’t want to think about that. About the fact that she’d one day have to come out to her parents, no, instead she focused on the conversation at hand.   
  
“That’s good. People deserve to be happy.” She sighed, and Ron nodded.   


“Mhm.” He mumbled, and then Parvati decided it was probably time to ask the one question she’d been thinking of since that night. Why her?   


“So… if you don’t mind my asking… Why Lavender? Out of everyone else in school, why go for Lav?” Parvati asked, and Ron sighed and shrugged, flicking the ash off of his cigarette.   
  
“Well… I don’t know… She’s nice. And actually pretty funny if you talk to her, I realized that… not to mention, I can’t deny that she’s pretty… and I don’t know, I guess I just like her.” He said with a shrug, and that actually made Parvati smile a bit, because it sounded so genuine, and the side of her that wasn’t insanely jealous was just insanely happy that Lavender had found someone who would, Merlin willing, treat her the way she deserved to be treated.   


“That’s rather sweet.” She admitted, feeling the chill start to seep in even more.   
  
“Parvati, you’re shivering.” Ron said, sounding concerned. Parvati shrugged and wrapped her arms around herself, rubbing her hands to warm herself.   


“‘M fine. Should’ve brought a jacket, but overall I’m okay.” Parvati said, waving off the concerned boy, but Ron wasn’t deterred. He shrugged his coat off and held it out to her with one hand.    


“Here, take mine. I don’t get that cold.” He insisted, but Parvati was still dubious.   


“Ron, you don’t have to-.” She tried, but Ron shook his head and gave her a look.   
“Let me make a good impression. Okay?” He asked gently, and Parvati rolled her eyes, but accepted the coat and let him drop it around her shoulders. As if they hadn’t been in the same house for six bloody years, impressions were long since made.   


“... Fine. Thank you. The only other guy who's ever offered me his coat is D.” She said, and Ron raised an eyebrow for a moment before it clicked and he nodded, leaning on the wall as he did.

“I always forget you guys are close.” Ron said quietly. Fair.   
  
“Mhm. Fun fact, before he and Seamus finally got together, he and I were supposed to go on a date… which I bailed on.” She said with a sigh. That story always made her feel a little shitty, but at least it’d pushed Dean and Seamus together a bit more.   


“Merlin! Why’d you bail?” Ron asked, and Parvati sighed and shrugged, running her fingers along the stones.   


“I just wasn’t feeling it, so I locked myself in my dorm. Eventually he talked to me through the door and got me to come out and took me to Hogsmeade. As friends.” She explained, and Ron gave her a small smile.

“He’s a great guy.” He commented, and Parvati nodded. She’d never thought otherwise about Dean.   


“Mhm. And he and Seamus are wonderful together.” Parvati said, and Ron made a face. Interesting. Never would’ve pegged Ron Weasley for a homophobe.   


“I’m sure they’re wonderful when you  _ aren’t  _ sharing a dorm with them.” Ron pointed out, his tone joking, and then it clicked in Parvati’s mind that Ron probably saw a  _ completely  _ different side of Dean and Seamus’s relationship than what she knew. So not homophobic, just not comfortable with hearing his friends hook up, thats fair.   


“Hah. Yeah, I guess you’re right.” She muttered, taking another drag out of her cigarette, letting one of her legs dangle off the ledge into the open air. It always made her feel free to do that, to know that while she  _ could  _ fall, she was in complete control of if she did.   


“Awful late to be out of your dorms, isn’t it?” She heard a voice call, and she jumped, grabbing onto the ledge to keep her balance before opening her eyes to see no one other than Pansy, leaning against one wall with her normal smirk, which could mean anything. If she was in a good mood, she probably just wanted a cigarette. If she was in a bad mood, Parvati and Ron might both get detention. Ron put his arm out and Parvati used it as leverage to hop down and dust off her pants as the redhead straightened up, seeming to step in front of her, like he was afraid that the Slytherin would hex her. She wasn’t scared though, not of that. Pansy was all bark and no bite.   


“We were just heading back.” Ron stated, his voice coming out low and firm, like he was trying to seem mature or something, as if that was going to intimidate Pansy into just walking away. But the Slytherin merely laughed and shook her head, pushing herself off the wall to walk towards them.   


“I didn’t say you had to do that. Can I bum?” She asked, snapping her fingers at Parvati, who pulled her pack from her pocket and put a cigarette between Pansy’s waiting fingers before lighting it.   


“‘Course.” She mumbled, and Pansy smiled at her gratefully as she took a long drag and closed her eyes, relaxing a bit as she blew it out the side of her mouth before taking a deep breath and giving Parvati a proper smile.   


“ _ Merlin _ . Thank you, Draco was being a proper ass today.” Pansy said, keeping her voice quiet as she did. And of course, Parvati already knew that. The wanker had tried to dock house points from her just for following her schedule. But it would be interesting to hear from Pansy’s perspective why he was acting like this.   


“Oh?” She asked, and Pansy sighed and nodded, rolling her eyes.   


“Yeah, pressing me about getting my parents to accept the proposal of linking our families. Like… sure, he’s one of my best friends, but I don’t want to marry the guy, and he just doesn’t get that.” She explained, and Parvati grimaced, taking a drag from her own as she nodded. It made sense why she was so annoyed then.   


“Yikes.” Parvati murmured, and Pansy seemed to echo her analysis with a nod.   


“Um. I… what?” Ron asked, and Pansy rolled her eyes and narrowed her gaze, glaring at the other Gryffindor.   


“Parvati can talk to more people than just Gryffindors, Weaslby.” Pansy snapped, and Ron didn’t quite look convinced as he nodded. Did this look like Parvati was doing something against her will? No.   


“... Right.” Ron sighed, and looked out across the school grounds, which Parvati had always thought were quite gorgeous at night. Parvati heard footsteps approaching and quickly snatched Pansy’s cigarette, tossing it over the edge of the astronomy tower as the Slytherin glared at her. But she didn’t care, out of the three of them, Pansy had the most to lose if she was caught smoking.   


“Parkinson! We’re supposed to be doing rounds-oh. Hi Parvati. Ron.” Hermione said, and Parvati let out a small sigh of relief that it was  _ only  _ her, not Snape or someone equally as hell bent on taking away house points.   
  
“Hey ‘Mione. Sorry, we were just-.” Ron started, and Parvati cleared her throat and put up a hand to silence him, meeting Hermione’s questioning gaze.   


“It was my fault. I dragged him out for a smoke so I could ask his intentions with my best friend. Pansy was just giving us warning, isn't that right?” Parvati asked, darting her eyes back to the Slytherin, who picked up on what she was trying to do pretty quick and straightened up, regarding them both with faux coldness. It wasn’t hard to tell when she was being actually malicious, because the expression actually reached her eyes when that happened.   
  
“Uh… yeah. Get back to your dorms, or it's 20 points from each of you. 10 for being out after curfew and 10 for smoking on grounds.” Pansy said, shooting Parvati a quick look of thanks as both Gryffindors nodded.   
  
“Sorry.” Ron mumbled, looking down at the ground as he did. Understandable, if she were one of Hermione’s best friends she would  _ not  _ want to be making eye contact with her right now   


“Yeah… sorry.” Parvati said, and once the two prefects were out of sight, she and Ron began their walk back to the Gryffindor tower in silence. Or at least it was in silence, before Ron interrupted it with an out of place laugh.   
  
“That was the  _ only  _ time Parkinson has ever been anything other than a complete bitch to me.” He admitted, sounding a little relieved, and Parvati shrugged. “She’s not so bad sometimes. Like… yeah, she was awful for a bit there, but I think now that she’s realizing that she can be her own person, she’s a bit better. I think learning about Daphne’s sister’s illness really helped her become more human.” She explained, and Ron blinked once, as if he was still trying to absorb all the information that Parvati had thrown at him. Made sense, she spoke a bit fast.   


“Daphne Greengrass?” Ron asked, and Parvati nodded.   


“Mhm. Her sister’s like… really sick. Like it’ll probably kill her.” Parvati explained, and Ron’s eyes widened for a moment, a little frown on his face. That was a pretty normal response, Parvati thought, but she knew that Daphne would’ve probably hexed him into next week for looking at her with pity. She’d come to realize that was the way of most of the Slytherin girls. Put on a brave face no matter what, even if your family is dying. She reckoned that it had to be rather difficult to do.   


“Merlin. That’s heavy.” Ron breathed, and Parvati nodded and sighed, pulling his coat tighter around her as she shivered. At least one of them had remembered to grab one, the castle was freezing tonight. She glanced over to see if he was cold, obviously she would’ve handed it back, but he seemed to be perfectly content to be without it.

“Yeah, overheard someone talking about it the other day.” Parvati said, trying to change the subject as quickly as she could, because who the hell wanted to talk about their classmates dying sister? For the most part, Ron let it go.   
  
“So… do  _ you _ gossip as much as Lavender?” Ron asked, and Parvati chuckled and shook her head, kind of expecting that question. Everyone assumed that since she and Lavender were  _ always  _ together that they acted exactly alike, which wasn’t fair. It’d taken Parvati years to not be lumped in with acting the same as Padma, she did not need the same treatment about her best friend.   


“No, I just keep my eyes and ears open. Lavender feels this need to be in the know about everything, I don’t. I know that it's not possible. I think that's partially because she wants to be remembered by people, and adored. Maybe she thinks that if she has all the knowledge, people won’t overlook her.” Parvati theorized, and Ron seemed a bit taken aback by this.   


“That’s ridiculous, people don’t actually overlook her, do they?” Ron asked, as if that was unbelievable. Parvati held back a chuckle as she nodded and crossed her arms. She thought it’d been obvious.   


“Well, when you’re being compared to your housemates -Harry and his lineage, Hermione and her intelligence, you and your legacy, Neville and his family history, people like that-, there's just a tendency that the rest of us can get left behind. Unless we play quidditch, then we’re celebrities for like… a minute. Or, if the team loses, they’re public enemy number one.” She explained, and Ron let out a dry chuckle and nodded.   


“Merlin, don’t I know it.” Ron breathed, and that posed another question that could have an interesting answer.

“So… why’d you get into quidditch to begin with?” Parvati asked, and Ron shrugged and sighed, looking off for a moment, like he was trying to come up with a suitable answer. The suitable answer was whatever one was true.   


“My brothers played. Well, most of them anyways, Percy never did. But I guess… I just wanted to be seen in my family, sort of hard when there's six other people.” He explained, and Parvati raised an eyebrow at him.   
  
“You’re a prefect, Ron. I think that makes you plenty seen.” Parvati reminded him, and he sighed and shrugged, looking up at the ceiling as he continued talking. She realized just how much he sometimes struggled to make eye contact. Had she made him too nervous? That wasn’t her intent, she  _ genuinely  _ had wanted to make sure that Lavender was entering into a healthy relationship, and not doing anything too rash.   


“Yeah, but… I want my parents to know that I try hard, even if sometimes my grades aren’t the best. Sometimes it feels like that's all my mom thinks about, how our marks are, when there's so much more she could be judging us on.” He admitted, and Parvati frowned a bit and looked down, not wanting to admit just how much she related to that. Her parents always raved about Padma getting into Ravenclaw, how smart she was, and how proud they were of her… not to say that they weren’t proud of Parvati, of course they were, but it was very clear which house they favored sometimes. What parent  _ wouldn’t  _ favor the house that focused on intellect?   


“I’d rather be judged on the merit of my character over my grades, but I think every parent is partial to the grades.” She finally said, realizing just how long she’d been quietly mulling that over in her head. But Ron didn’t seem to notice, instead he chuckled and nodded.   


“It’s frustrating.” He sighed, and Parvati nodded.   


“Mhm.”   


“We’re back.” Ron said, looking up at the portrait, which swung open after he murmured the code.   


“That we are. Here’s your coat, by the way.” Parvati said, shrugging the heavy article off her shoulders and folding it back over Ron’s arm. He looked a little confused, like he’d forgotten he’d even given it to her. Made sense, he seemed so content to walk in the cold of the hallways.   


“Oh. Thanks. Um… Parvati?” Ron called, and Parvati turned around, a bit surprised that he was still waiting outside the portrait, looking a little worried.   


“Yeah?” She asked, and he rocked back on his heels for a moment before speaking.   


“Did I meet your standards?” He asked, and Parvati let out a chuckle as she nodded. She saw no reason why not.   


“Yes. I’ll say you did. But if you hurt her, I will make you sorry you ever laid eyes on my best friend, are we clear?” Parvati asked, and the redhead nodded, jamming his hands into his pockets as he did.   


“Crystal.” Ron said, and she believed him, even if a twisted part of her was sort of hoping it would fail. Not a  _ large  _ part of her, but there was always a darker side of people.   
  
“Perfect. Goodnight, Ron.”   


“Night.”

“So?? How’d it go?” Lavender asked, practically vibrating with nerves. Obviously, she was attempting to mask it, but Parvati could see right through it and shrugged, giving her an easy smile.

“Really well. He’s sweet.” She said, and it was almost funny to see the look of shock of Lavenders face.

“For real?”

“Yes, Lav. I approve.” Parvati sighed, and she watched the smile slowly spread further across Lavenders cheeks

“Oh thank Merlin!” She said, and before Parvati could say anything else, she was pulled into a tight hug.

“I think you’ll be… very happy.” Parvati sighed, patting Lavenders shoulder as she did her best to remember that that was what mattered. Her happiness.


End file.
